Decibel Festival presents Live For The Funk

Live For The Funk‘s “Beat Prodigies” Decibel showcase on Wednesday, September 26, is attractive to me for a few reasons, the biggest being that three of the five bands are Seattle based. Katie Kate (from NY but living here), Keyboard Kid, and Kid Smpl have all been making ripples in the R&B influenced electronic field with albums released in the past year. If you haven’t already caught them in Seattle, this is a great chance to see them alongside two other EDM names: Samo Sound Boy and Dabrye.

Kid Smpl recently garnered my attention with his beautiful video that accompanied his equally as lush sound – “Pulse” as a song vibrates between a meditative ambient sound and drums and bells beats. He currently has Escape Pod out on Hush Hush Records, as well as a collection of remixes, and was just inducted into the Red Bull Music Academy. Need more? LFTF has a mix by him up right now as well.

Seattle Producer Keyboard Kid is most known from his association with Lil B – but his own tracks are so complex and fast paced that lyrics aren’t really needed. His most recent album Transitions features the track “BASEDEXORCISM” with a spooky Twin Peaks clip video.

Samo Sound Boy started his DJ days in Buenos Aires at a Nigerian sound hall – eclectic mix for someone who is obsessed with the Chicago sound scene. His music reflects those influences, super fast, possibly abrasive, great to dance to.

Katie Kate‘s beats might be less complex than some, but they sure aren’t slow – and they let the lyrics, which are witty, abrasive, and amusing all at once, take control. She’s the most upfront and hip-hop of the artists at this showcase, just like she might be among the most badass and straightforward of her kind in Seattle.

Although he is headlining, Dabrye might be the most mysterious player in LFTF’s showcase. Who is Dabrye? Well is the well documented Tedd Mullinix who has been putting out albums since about 2001. But what has he done recently? Well that might be the mystery. He seems to be known all around as somewhat of an electro-expert. Find out for yourself at the showcase.

You can catch these guys on Wednesday, September 26th, at 9:30pm at Barboza. Check out Decibel for more information about this and other showcases.